Promises, promises
by socksandchocolate
Summary: Songfic. Set in HBP. Harry knows Draco is up to something. Draco tries to cope with the task he has to complete and finds comfort in Moaning Myrtle's company. Meanwhile Draco's mother Narcissa is desperately trying to find a way to save her son. One-shot.


_  
It's got me going inside, I think it's happening again  
I think there's gonna be some action  
Because it's got me going inside_

Today, Christmas Eve, was one of those days Harry thought about Draco Malfoy far too often.  
He was sitting in his bed in the Gryffindor boy's dormitories. Dim light from a single candle shone through the cracks in the curtains of his four-poster bed and there was no sound to be heard but his fellow students snoring and ice breaking off the roof every now and then, falling against the large window looking over the now dark grounds of Hogwarts.  
Why did nobody see it? Was he the only one who noticed Draco was up to something?  
He knew Draco Malfoy was going to make something happen and he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to let it happen.  
All those attempted murders in a row (and he thought they were indeed attempted murders, regardless of what everyone around him claimed) couldn't be a coincidence.  
Over the last few months he had watched Draco become thinner and even paler than ever, his handsome grey eyes become mere slots, devoured by dark circles under them, his usually fair, light hair become a greasy, dark blonde curtain, hiding his face from the outside world while he silently rushed down the corridors, always looking stressed and nervous, lost in thought.  
He had even stopped harassing fellow students, had started to ignore any Gryffindors trying to pick fights with him and wondrously avoided eye contact with Harry and all of his friends.  
All he did to show his aversion towards Harry was give him the occasional finger, and even this happened with such frailty it seemed like a miracle Draco didn't just collapse half way through the day.  
He was up to something that made him become less and less Draco, and more and more...Harry didn't know what it was that Draco was becoming.  
He just knew Draco seemed very overstrained and that whatever he was up to was a big effort and was demanding all his attention.

_You got me where you want me  
Sit down and talk to me  
Well I just hope you're happy  
With your snake skin, dead bodies, evening all_

With baited breath, a pale skinny boy peeked around the corner of a very special corridor on the 7th floor. He seemed to be looking out for someone or something, surreptitiously scanning the whole corridor with his small eyes.  
After a few seconds he seemed satisfied, disappeared behind the corner and quickly came back into sight, this time accompanied by two first year girls looking rather grumpy.  
One of the girls was holding a fine golden instrument in both hands.  
The other one was carefully picking her nose.  
The pale teenage boy hissed something and all three of them set off to the middle of the corridor where an interesting painting of Barnabas giving dance lessons hung on the dark stone wall.  
What came now might have seemed puzzling to any outsider who wasn't aware of the fact that there was something special about this corridor - apart from the very peculiar painting of course.  
The two girls went to stand opposite of the painting, leaving a space between them. The boy now walked past the space they had left, once, twice, mumbling something with squinty eyes. After the third time he whirled around on the spot and looked at the space as if he had expected something to appear there suddenly. But all that could be seen was the blank stone wall (and one of the girls cleaning her left ear with her little finger). The boy looked a little irritated, seemed to contemplate something for a while, and then did the same thing again.  
This procedure repeated itself a few times and each time the pale boy grew more irritated.  
After what seemed hours, at last something happened: A door suddenly materialized where there had been cold stone bricks seconds before.  
The boy let out a triumphant howl and jumped forward to open the door. He threw a last stern look at the girls, then closed the door behind him and was gone, as was the door.

Myrtle had watched all this from behind a suit of armour and was very keen on finding out just what had happened.

_Just go! Go back to your bright lights  
You made promises you couldn't keep  
Sicking up rag doll more than you know  
Just keep your mouth shut you got no mind to blow  
You celebrate things, you celebrate things  
Forget about me and just desecrate everything  
Oh you messed it up good, yeah this kid's just a joke_

"He…he is doing everything in his power, Lord…he will make it...believe me, he will make it…I know of his plan…it is a good plan, oh Dark Lord… he's keeping at it, concentrating on it - "  
"Don't lie to me, Narcissa! DON'T LIE TO ME!"  
"But Lord, I – "  
"You say it's a good plan? He is keeping at it? Ahhhhh. Did you really think I didn't _know_ what was going on at Hogwarts? Can this little boy have the strength to survive? Ahhh. I don't think so. He celebrates, celebrates great accomplishments...in his little, queer world they may be great accomplishments…but in my world…in the real world…they're nothing…nothing at all. Do you understand? Nothing. He is useless. He doesn't concentrate enough, he forgets he is serving ME, and only me, he forgets he is doing all this for me…have you failed to make him understand?"  
"Sir, I –"  
"You are the one who said he could make it. You promised he could make it. You should be grateful I didn't have you swear the Unbreakable Vow! Lucius…Lucius failed. Now Draco will have to prove the noble family Malfoy hasn't turned into a miserable heap of bunglers. But - You can decide now Narcissa. I let you have the choice. Bow to the graciousness of Lord Voldemort, Narcissa, for his graciousness is one of a kind. His brilliancy is one of a kind. Collect your son from Hogwarts, pack your things and flee. Get help from Albus Dumbledore and his futile minions. Flee like a coward! But, only once, I would like to point out that you would never make it. I will find you. My servants will find you. Kill you and your family when we find you. You have the choice… make that kid do his job right or die, Narcissa."

_It's got me going inside, I think it's happening again  
I think there's gonna be some action  
Because it's got me going inside_

Laughter rung over the frozen lake on the grounds of Hogwarts as Ginny was hit by yet another snowball.  
"You – "  
"No strong language please, Miss Weasley!" shouted Harry, grabbed another hand full of snow, aimed and threw it at his girlfriend. It hit her neck, causing the cold snow to fall behind the collar of her brown coat and onto her warm skin, making her shriek and laugh again.  
"Stop!" she shouted, still giggling. "Stop it! I give up! I give up!"  
Grinning, Harry set off to help her get rid of all the snow in her hair and on her jacket.  
"So…what does the winner get?" he asked impishly and moved his eyebrows up and down, looking into Ginny's eyes.  
"Hmm…let's see…how about this?"  
Her right hand wandered up into his hair, gently grabbing hold of it. She softly put her mouth on his cold lips, which instantly warmed up. Harry was about to mumble something along the lines of "Well, I think that's a good idea" but was silenced at once by Ginny's lips and tongue movements becoming more vivid and demanding, her fingers passionately ruffling his hair, pushing his head nearer towards hers.  
After some happy minutes, Ginny let go and smirked at him standing in the cold, his hair more ruffled than ever and his glasses hanging from one ear, happily grinning at her.  
"Wanna go up to get ready for the Christmas feast?" she asked him.  
"Sure," Harry answered and grabbed her waist. They slowly walked up to the castle.  
Harry's mind was now racing and he glanced at Ginny beside him. He was fighting with himself. He just couldn't wait. He had to ask.  
"Ginny…have you noticed anything about Malfoy lately? I mean, doesn't he seem stressed and…like he's up to something?"  
Ginny gave him a stern look. "Hermione told me you were practically getting obsessed with that unbearable Slytherin. Talked to me about some weird theories of yours. Told me to draw your attention off from him. Here I am making out with you for half an hour and you're still thinking about him."  
Harry could tell she was annoyed.  
"But Ginny, I mean, you're great and spending time with you is, is really wonderful, but I just need to know. You understand? It's necessary for me to know and it's urgent. Come on, please help me, darling. "  
Ginny snorted, though Harry noticed a slight smile on her face.  
"You're calling me darling to make me help you? This is just unbelievable. Though I would approve of you calling me darling more often, mister. Oh never mind, I suppose I could just tell you what I know."  
Harry grinned. He had won – again.  
"Thanks…darling." Harry grinned.  
"All I know is yes, he has become thinner and yes, he has become more silent, but that doesn't mean he is a Death Eater, Harry. Draco is too young. He can't be one. Do you think … Voldemort would let such a young, inexperienced boy serve him? Do you think he would give him an all that great task? And most of all, do you think Draco could keep a promise he had made to Voldemort?"  
"Well, everything's possible, just think about it, Ginny. Everything's possible. Nobody would suspect Draco to be a Death Eater. Wouldn't it be a clever move of Voldemort to give him a task he can fulfil in Hogwarts? He would have a Death Eater, a loyal servant, right in Hogwarts. Do you realize this? We have a Death Eater in Hogwarts!"  
"Harry, you're taking this far too serious, it's – "  
"Oh yeah, I'm taking this too serious? I'm just thinking, that's all. If you want to just sit there and let Malfoy do his Death Eater job, you know what? I'm not going to help any of you when something happens."  
And he walked off into a different direction, feeling angry, irritated – and lonely. He had forgotten all about Christmas dinner.

_You got me where you want me  
Sit down and talk to me  
Well I just hope you're happy  
With your snake skin, dead bodies, evening all_

"Breathe."  
A tall young boy was standing in front of a mirror, his face turned away from her. She could see the straight parting in his damp hair in the mirror in front of him, his fine hands with long, pale white, but dirty fingers were resting on the sides of a stained washbasin, which was full of cracks.  
His whole body was trembling, whether with fear or weakness she didn't know.  
Parts of his robes were wet - there were long dark marks on them where they had soaked the water up from the wet ground.  
"Breathe," the boy repeated in a weak voice and took a deep breath in the damp heat of the girl's bathroom. He slowly raised his head, as though this action required all his strength.  
Myrtle could see the boy's face now. She was standing directly behind him.  
He had a peaked, oval face, high cheekbones and small, pungent eyes with dark circles under them. Sweat was running down along his temples and his nose had a little scar from one side to another, as if a cat had scraped him there. She knew the drops of fluid running down from his eyes weren't sweat, but tears, because she had been watching him come here and vent his anger, his frustration, his fear for some weeks now.  
He saw her flickering silhouette in the mirror and instantly whirled around, his wand pulled out and pointed directly at the place her heart would have been had she been a human being.  
"Hey there. I don't think it's nice of you to point your wand at me. I never even _did_ anything to you. You don't even know who I am." She pouted.  
The boy looked at her suspiciously, his wand still pointed at her. He let out a deep growl and she gasped for she hadn't expected him to be able to exhale a tone so deep, so manly…  
"Now, now," she said, shyly hovering only inches over the wet floor.  
"Now, now _what_?" he answered, in a deep voice, as if he was trying to cover up what she had just witnessed.  
Myrtle came to the conclusion he was talking like this to impress her, because when she had heard him talking previously his voice had been but a weak, high-pitched one and at times a mere whisper.  
"I won't harm you, you know. Indeed, if there is anyone who can understand you, it is probably me. I know what your problem is...I have been watching you."  
"You have been watching me?" The boy looked as if in great pain and panic suddenly, shivering more than ever. "You've…you've," - and then he broke down.

_Just go, go back to your bright lights  
You made promises you couldn't keep  
Sicking up rag doll more than you know  
Just keep your mouth shut you got no mind to blow  
You celebrate things, you celebrate things  
Forget about me and just desecrate everything  
Oh you messed it up good, yeah this kid's just a joke_

"Get Draco! Help? Help! Who? Death Eater? No …Yes? Plan…Lord…who knows? Lord will find out…no...Draco…help, please…now…who…trust? No, no. Trust…? Say…Unbreakable Vow…please, help! School…? Dumbledore…no…no. Trust. School. Draco. "  
Narcissa Malfoy was thinking desperately. What was she to do? She was confused. She was in fear. Great fear. Draco would never be able to fulfil the duty on his own; he was just a _child_…_her_ only child. She needed help. She needed _help_. Desperately. It was a matter of life and death. She needed help. Even if it meant…lying to the Dark Lord. She had to protect her blood! She needed help. Help….  
_"Severus…"_  
"What did you say, dear sister?" asked a woman standing in the back of the room in front of a mirror, combing her long, black hair.  
She had to tell her sister. Maybe she would be able to help her?  
"I…Bella…I need help. I need help."  
What a foolish thing to think she was going to help her.  
Bellatrix Black looked up into the mirror and into her sister's face, lit only by two candles standing on the huge mahogany table in the living room of the Malfoy manor. She saw the usually fine, oval face with remarkably high cheekbones, a rather pointy nose and pretty, pale blue eyes - now flushed, black tears running down rapidly, coloured by mascara, the woman they belonged to now shaking furiously and holding fast to her chair.  
"What's the matter, Cissy?" she asked, lowering the brush tentatively and turning around to face Narcissa, who was sitting in a high armchair at the table.  
"I need help, Bella. Draco is confronted with a task he will never be able to carry out. The Dark Lord gave him this task _knowing_ he wouldn't be able to. I know he did. He assigned it to him…I believe he assigned it to him to satisfy his thirst for revenge for what…my husband did. He failed. Bella, I need help…Draco needs help. Now. I need to hurry, or else it will be too late." She had said all this very quickly, stumbling over her own words, not looking up to her sister's face once. She stood up, still shaking.  
"Cissy! What…are you talking about the great plan our Dark Lord has thought up? You couldn't be."  
"I am indeed, Bella. Why wouldn't I be?"  
"This is…Draco should be proud! _You_ should be proud! The Dark Lord doesn't give a damn about trivial matters! He assigned this task to him to give Draco glory! Eternal glory! I can't believe you are in doubt about anything the Dark Lord – "  
"He is my son, Bella! My son! My blood! He will die!"  
"If he dies for the Dark Lord, I see nothing wrong with – "  
"Of course you don't, you don't have any children! You don't know what I am going through, Bellatrix! This is torturing me! My son is in danger! You don't understand! I need help! Now! I need to save him and I can't do it on my own!"  
"But darling Cissy... who do you intend to ask to help your son?", Bellatrix said in a sweet tone of voice that didn't fool Narcissa.  
She turned around and shot a nasty look at her sister, who was standing in front of her with flushed cheeks, tendons showing up on her neck, grasping her comb tightly in one hand.  
"Severus Snape, Bellatrix," Narcissa said icily.  
"Severus Snape? Of all the people on the planet you have to ask that…untrustworthy bungler? ...That traitor?" yelled Bellatrix furiously.  
"You know my opinion on this, sister. I need help instantly and I trust Severus in this matter. Now let me go." Narcissa eyed her sibling. Was there any response to her words other than severe anger?  
"No. I will not let you go and deceive the Dark Lord. Snape?! Stay here, or I will – "  
"You will what? You will _what_, Bellatrix? _Accio robes!_ "Her warm winter robes came flying over to her and she hastily put them on.  
"You can't stop me Bella. I need to protect my son. I'm going."  
And with a loud, hissing noise, she disapparated.  
"Wait!" yelled Bellatrix. But her sister was gone. Scowling, she quickly put on her robes, muttered something under her breath, and was gone as fast as Narcissa, disappearing with a quiet pop.

_Baby can't shoot straight  
But you gotta shoot straight  
There's just so many friends to make  
Gotta take blows, it's the way that you grow  
Yeah, you gotta shoot straight  
Baby gotta shoot straight  
Oh there's so many friends to make  
Gotta take blows, it's the way that you grow  
Don't need to be seen  
Just gotta get yourself known_

"I need to do it now, Myrtle."  
Draco was leaning on the door of a toilet cabin in the girl's toilets for support, breathing heavily, and sweating more than ever. He was trembling and it seemed as though he found it hard to speak without spluttering.  
"Now. My mark feels like it's burning…I feel like I'm burning…Myrtle - am I doing the right thing? Tell me, please, help me…I planned everything. I did brilliantly… who would have thought I was cunning enough to make it? But now…the final step…I'm unsure Myrtle…I'm so weak…please…tell me! TELL ME! I need someone to tell me, to help me, to guide me!"  
But she was only a ghost. She couldn't help him. What was _she_ supposed to do?

He ran over to her, yelling, and for a moment it seemed like he wanted to shake her and force her to tell him what to do.  
The hands of the raving, lost boy plunged through her silvery white body and he instantly pulled them back. They were now cold as ice.

He looked at them, started shaking again, and his facial expression slowly, very slowly, turned from showing desperate anger to severe anguish.  
Draco slumped down on the ground and lay there in the water among the pieces of toilet paper, dead insects and bloodstains in a heap for a few minutes, his whole body quivering.  
He then raised his head as tears ran down his face and let out a yell of torment, his eyes wide open, obviously stricken with fear and pain.  
Myrtle flinched. The boy needed her help. "Draco…my dear, beautiful Draco," she thought and hovered over to him, while he put his head onto his crossed arms and cried.  
"Sweetheart…pumpkin pie…," she whispered into his ear. She slowly stroked his long, unwashed hair and touched his ear.  
Draco jumped to his feet at the touch, his whole face drowned in tears. He looked at her aghast and felt the ear she had touched with his own hand.  
"So…cold," he said and was hardly audible.  
He turned around, now looking determined, ripped some toilet paper from a holder beside the sinks and cleaned his face hastily, then rushed towards the door.  
"Where are you going, dear?" asked Myrtle.  
He pushed the door open and while going out, he answered: "I'm off to keep my promise."

Cooper Temple Clause - Promises, Promises

_It's got me going inside, I think it's happening again_

_I think there's gonna be some action_

_Cos it's got me going inside_

_You got me where you want me_

_Sit down and talk to me_

_Well I just hope you're happy_

_With your snake skin, dead bodies, evening all_

_Just go go back to your bright lights_

_You made promises you couldn't keep_

_Sicking up rag doll more than you know_

_Just keep your mouth shut you got no mind to blow_

_You celebrate things, you celebrate things_

_Forget about me and just desecrate everything_

_Oh you messed it up good, yeah this kid's just a joke_

_It's got me going inside, I think it's happening again_

_I think there's gonna be some action_

_Cos it's got me going inside_

_You got me where you want me_

_Sit down and talk to me_

_Well I just hope you're happy_

_With your snake skin, dead bodies, evening all_

_Just go go back to your bright lights_

_You made promises you couldn't keep_

_Sicking up rag doll more than you know_

_Just keep your mouth shut you got no mind to blow_

_You celebrate things, you celebrate things_

_Forget about me and just desecrate everything_

_Oh you messed it up good, yeah this kid's just a joke_

_Baby can't shoot straight_

_But you gotta shoot straight_

_There's so many friends to make_

_Gotta take blows, it's the way that you grow_

_Yeah, you gotta shoot straight_

_Baby gotta shoot straight_

_Cos there's so many friends to make_

_Gotta take blows, it's the way that you grow_

_Don't need to be seen_

_Just gotta get yourself known_


End file.
